Kelly, must have been
prepared
from a copy, diffc-
^i See Rev.
^i See Rev.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v1
^n- gus, the Culdee, who wrote towards the latter part of the eighth, and the be- ginning of the ninth century.
'?
It is said, that while this holy and learned man lived in the Monastery of Tallagh, under the Abbot, St.
Melruain, both were engaged in compiling from earlier records that very complete Calendar of Irish known and
Saints,
generally quoted
as " Tamlach- Martyrologium
tense,"or"TheMartyrologyofTallagh. "'^ Sometimes,fromthecompilers'
names, it is designated, "The Martyrology of ^ngus, the son of Ua-Oblein,
andofMoelruain. "'9 Veryfewcopiesofthisworkhavecomedowntoour
time, in manuscript ; and these hitherto discovered are found to be imper-
fect, while faultily transcribed or interpolated by scribes, who assume to have copied from the original work.
rently after its dissolution, the place passed
into the hands of the Archbishop of Dublin,
and here, in 1324, Alexander de Bicknor
built a fine mediaeval castle or palace for his
country residence. Here, too, several of his Ireland," book i. , chap. v. Also, Bishop successors dwelt. In 1 771, Gabriel Beran- Nicholson's "Irish Historical Library," ger made a drawing of it, which is extant. chap. iv.
Until 1803, the Protestant Archbishops of '7 See the "Life and Works of St. . ^n- Dublin resided in this palace. In 181 8, W. gussius Hagiographus or St. ^ngus the
Monck Mason had a beautiful copperplate engraving, by S. Lacey, prepared by C. V.
Fielding from a sketch by P. Byrne, and this view he dedicated to His Grace Euseby,
Lord Archbishop of Dublin, &c. , &c. This has been reproduced in the new and en-
Culdee," by the author. Dublin, 1868, 8vo. See, also, the Life of this saint, which occurs at the nth of March, the date for his festi- val.
'* John Boland, who had possibly seen an old copy belonging to John Colgan and the Franciscans, at Louvain, confesses, that he was unable to decide what degree of autho-
When
larged edition of Archdall's
"
Monasticon
Hibemicum," edited, with extensive notes,
by the Right Rev. Patrick F. Moran, D. D. , rity should be attached to it.
Lord Bishop of Ossory, and other distin- quoting it, for his purpose at the latter days guished Antiquarians. In vol. i. , at p. 201, of January, he calls it " Hibemicum Mar- there is an elegant view of the Ancient Ar- tyrologium. " See "Acta Sanctorum," ,
chiepiscopal Palace, Tallaght, in the County of Dublin. In 1825, this Palace was taken down, with the exception of its ancient
Januarii, tomus i. Prsfatio Generalis ad Vitas Sanctorum, cap. iv. , sec. 4.
'9 The title prefixed to this Martyrology is
now with couched in these terms " incorporated :
square belfry tower,
the new Dominican Convent, as shown in
Incipit Martyro- logium i^ngussii, filii Hua-oblenii et Mel- ruanii. " But in the copy, preserved at St. Isidore's convent, Rome, Dr. Todd says, at ful storm, "St. Maelruan's tree," which the beginning, the following title is in ru- bric : "Incipit martira oenghusa mc oiblean
the background of our Frontispiece. On the 6th of January, 1839, during a night of fear-
had for centuries grown upright—yet parted
near the roots—from two trunks large
et maolruain ie e. \i.
" Here
hie. ]"
the Martyrology of Oengus Mac Oiblean
tions, and several of their branches were and Maolruain. " This, however, can only firmly bedded in the earth. Each autumn, mean, that the work had been compiled this fine tree is loaded with a vast number from the collections of Aengus and Mael- of walnuts. The people believe it had ruain, as its basis, for it exhibits internal
; these were blown down in opposite direc-
begins
been planted originally by St. Maelruan, and that it has continued to grow there since his time.
'*See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. "Writers of
xiv INTRODUCTION.
Oi that celebrated Martyrology, attributed to the authorship of St. Maelruan, as also to his renowned disciple St. ^ngus, the Culdee, Colgan appears to have possessed two defective copies. The names of saints are simply set down in this
work, which, for stated reasons, he preferred calling the Martyrology of Tallagh, or Tamlacht. In the first place, it had been composed by joint labour, on^^the
part of -^ngus and Maelruan, at Tallagh ; secondly, it could —not be cited as theworkofbothsaints,withouttediousnessandconfusion themoreso,
because he had been obliged frequently to quote another Martyrology, the sole production of ^ngus ; and thirdly, h&cdiwse. it is reasonably conjectured, that ancient writers called it the Martyrology of Tamlacht. =^° This latter
work, therefore, was supposed to differ in no respect from the Martyrology of . ^ngus and Maelruan, which had been composed at Tallagh. There was no other Martyrology known to be extant in Colgan's time, and that could better deserve such a title, or which, in fact, was distinguished by such an
that work " of and entitled, Martyrology yEngus
appellation. Fourthly,
Maelruan," contains the names of its reputed authors'^ and of some other
saints, who were their contemporaries, but who departed this life after their time. Nordoesitfollow,becauseBlathmac,whohadbeenmartyredforthe faith at lona, a. d. 823,=^ and Feidhlimidh Mac Crimhthainn, King of Mun- ster, who died on the i8th of August,=3 a. d. 845, have been entered in it, that their names had not been introduced for copies, transcribed after the death of . ^ngus. Among other insertions, we find recorded therein the name, St. Corpre,BishopofClonmacnoise,whodieda. d. 899; butwedonotfind the name of St. Cormac Mac Cuileannan, king and bishop, who departed this life, in the earlier part of the tenth century, nor, in fact, of any saint, who died after a. d. 900. ^4 Hence, it is thought, that certain subsequent additions were made to the joint work of ^ngus and Maelruan, by some monk, belonging to the monastery of Tallagh, or to some other place, and who lived towards the close of the ninth, or who died in the beginning of the tenth century. ^^s
evidence of comprising more recent entries of saints living long after their death. See
"
March nth, and July 7th.
*^
According to Professor O'Curry, on the 19th of July. This appears, however, to be Donegal. " Introduction, p. xv. It shows, a mistake for the 24th of that month. See
Drs. Todd's and Reeves'
Martyrology of
however, that both saints must have been joint labourers at the work, previous to the
death of Maelruan, in the year 792. Some additions were undoubtedly made in the
the life of this holy martyr at the 19th of January. Art. i. , and n. 32.
*3 His festival, however, is placed on the Calendar at the 28th of August,
had previously been written. See "Acta xii. , p. 581. In Harris' Ware, a similar
centuries.
*°Thus, Marianus Gorman, who lived
^* From circumstances alluded already
succeeding
to, Eugene O'Curry seems to doubt if Aengus had anything to do with its authorship. See "Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History," Lect. xvii. , p, 362. '^ See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- from the Martyrology of Tamlacht, which niae," xi. Martii. Vita S. iEngussii, cap.
more than five hundred years before Col- gan's time, in the preface to his Martyrology,
rightly remarks in Colgan's opinion, that St. . (Engus composed his metrical Festilogy,
Sanctorum Hibernige," xi. Martii. Vita S.
^ngussii, cap. xiii. p. 581.
" At the date of their respective festivals,
opinion has been adopted. See vol. iii.
" 52.
Writers of Ireland," book i. , chap, v. , p.
tmkonucTioN: itv
The Martyrology of Tallagh is generally believed to be the oldest con- taining our Irish saints' festivals known to be extant ; and with the days, it oftenrecordstheirimmediatefathersandtheirparticularchurches. ^^ Still criticism must remain greatly at fault, in reference to its real author or authors ; especially, as we are not likely ever to recover the original copy, which most probably has been destroyed. A version of the Martyrology of Tallagh has been published by the late Rev. Professor Matthew Kelly, D. D. , ofMaynoothCollege. ^? Intheyear1847,^^procured^^acopy,partiallyde- fective,andtranscribedfromtheBurgimdianLibraryone,atBrussels. ^9 This version he published in 1857, shortly before his lamented death. 3° Its defects have been supplied, in parts, from other Irish Martyrologies. Corrections were carefully made by Professor O'Curry from his Transcript for Rev. Dr. Todd. 3' WhenthisdistinguishedscholarvisitedRomein1862,hecollated
the Irish portion of Dr. Kell/s work with the original manuscript. Nume- rous errors and omissions were thus corrected. s^ However, the edition
published by Rev. Dr. Kelly still contains valuable historic notes and addi- tions. 33 It is to be regretted, that the learned editor had not been able to obtain a more complete—yet still deficient—copy for publication, which Colgan had once procured. 34 Indeed, a number of different copies, had they been available, must have greatly enhanced the value and accuracy of such an interesting work.
Long before the composition of this valuable national Calendar of holy per- sons by St. . ^ngus and St. Maelruan, an older Martyrology of Saints had been
^*
It has been described by Professor Tamlactense et Genealogias SS"TM et plura O'Curry, in his "Lectures on the Manu- alia opuscula. " We may add that the bind- script Materials of Ancient Irish History," ing of this valuable volume is of vellum, Lect. xvii. , pp. 362, 363. Also, by Rev. with a piece of calf-skin, rudely stitched
James Henthom Todd, in his Introduction upon its back. See Mr. Bindon's Paper, ""
to the Martyrology of Donegal. "
^7 The editor used two mutilated copies of this work. See Rev. Dr. Kelly's "Disser- tations chiefly on Irish Church History. "
Edited by Rev. Daniel Mac Carthy, D. D. , p. 214.
^^
the kindness of Rev. Father Tinbroeck, S. J.
*9 As the original is in the Irish character,
with some peculiar Irish contractions, and many strange Irish names, certain inaccu- racies were unavoidable when making the first transcript.
3° This MS. occupies about twenty-seven pages, and it has various testimonials ap-
pended. It is found among the MSS. , as vol. xvii. , No. 5104. Upon the outside of this volume will be found the following note, in a hand apparently as old as that of the text or testimonials: " Continens Mar-
tyrologia CEngussei, Mariani Gormani et
read May 24th, 1847. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. iii. , pp. 489, 490.
Through
32 See "The Martyrology of Donegal,"
edited Drs. Todd and Reeves. Intro- by
duction, n. 3, p. xvi.
33 in 1849, the Rev. Dr. Todd likewise
procured from the Belgian Government the
loan of a MS. containing this, as well as
O'Gorman's and iEngus' Martyrologies,
all in Father Michael O'Clery's handwriting. Professor O'Curry made accurate transcripts
from it, for Dr. Todd's private library, See "Lectures on the Manuscript Materials
of Ancient Irish History," Lect xvii. , pp.
362, 363.
34 The edition of the Martyrology of Tal-
laght, published by the Rev. Dr.
Kelly, must have been prepared from a copy, diffc-
^i See Rev. Dr. Kelly's Irish Saints," Preface, p. iii.
**
Calendar of
XVI Wtroduction.
inuseamongecclesiastics. 35 Thisseemstohavebeenoriginallycompiledat,
or even before, the time of St. Jerome. 3^ Although not wholly written by
" The
learned men, it is considered to be the oldest work of its kind extant ;3S
ing from that older one,described by Colgan. has his name inscribed, and whose very Dr. Kelly's edition only contains the names handwriting can be traced in part, with
of Irish, and omits the list of foreign saints. 35 Father Heribert Roswede, a man deeply versed in ecclesiastical antiquities, had re- ceived frem the Canhusians at Treves, or Triers, in Germany, a certain very ancient codex, belonging to St. Willebrord's Monas- tery at Eptemac, in Triers diocese, duchy of Luxemburg. It contained an exceedingly
him, yet
it bears for
title,
Martyrology
of St.
Jerome. '"^? By many
old and most
included names of many saints for each day,
been thus designated, owing to the prefixed
"
title:
lebrordi continet Martyrologium Hiero- nymi. " Whether this had been the Mar- tyrology ascribed to St. Jerome, or to St. Eusebius, or to St. Willebrord, in most particulars, Colgan says, it agreed with the his Martyrology of St. . <^ngus, and with the Maryrology of Tallagh. Only those places where the Martyrs suffered were more accu- rately noted, and it had the advantage of being more copious. Tlie Martyrology of Tallagh has also added at each day certain
Irish saints, and frequentlysome other saints, wantingintheEptemaccopy. Tworeasons incline Colgan to believe that St. Willebrord
—which is known
as"C—odexS. Willebrordi"or"Epterna- beeninterpolatedbysomeone,wholived
not found in the "
complete Martyrology.
This
Roma- num," or in any other Martyrology hitherto edited. He thought this was the Martyr- ology of St. Jerome, and that it should have
lib. and 12. For the v. , cap. lo, II,
Martyrologium
rum,"
trath of these statements, Colgan cites other
Christe fave votis. Codex S. Wil-
authorities, in the Life of St. Suithbert, at the first day of March.
3* Launoy says that the Martyrology called of St. Jerovie cannot be proved to have been written by that very learned saint, on any authority prior to the reign of Charle- magne.
37 It must be remarked, that D'Achery, in
"
Spicilegium, sive Collectio Veterum aliquot Scriptomm," has published "Mar- tyrologium vetustissimum Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri nomine insignitum," tomus iv. This is even imperfect, since he appends the
brought that Martyrology
were written has by St. Jerome, it
censi" withhim,whenheleftIrelandonhis way to Eptemac. First, two copies had been
preserved in Colgan's time, although dif- feringsomewhatincertainpassages. Those belongedtoIreland. Oneofthemhadbeen transmitted to Louvain. Itwaswrittenon old vellum, but it was not found in a perfect state. Each day, that other copy had been expect- ed, and from which excerpts of Irish saints had been already obtained. No other copy of this work was known to be extant in any of the European libraries, that only excepted which belonged to the collection of Eptemac MSS. Secondly, one of these copies seems to have its
authenticity proved correlativelywith the other. For St. Willebrord, whose Codex
part,
since his time, as the names of many among the more recent saints are contained in it. . See the remarks of Henry Valois in his Ap- pendix to the edition of ' ' Eusebius's Eccle- siastical History,'" on this subject. St. Je- rome's Martyrology had been used by Pope St. Gregory the Great, and it existed many years earlier. Since those times, some names have been added to it, such as that of Gre- gory himself. These D'Achery has marked in Italics. Among such reputed additions, is the name of St. Patrick. See Dr. Lani- gan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xx. , § x. , n. 102, pp. 249,
250.
3^ See on this subject the " Acta Sane*
every appearance of certain proof, did not
come from Anglia—as some writers say—
but he came from Hibemia immediately to
Friesland or Frisia, and thence to Eptemac.
Willebrord had previously lived in Ireland,
from the twentieth to the thirty-third year of
his age, engaged in scholastic studies and in
practices of piety, as Alovinus Flaccus states
in his " and as Venerable Bede has it Life,"
in his " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglo-
*
" Cetera legi non potu- erant in MS utpote a tineis corrosa ; silicet ab hac die ad viii. Kal. Jan. a quo incipit hocce Martyrologium. " It must be con- fessed, if this Martyrology, for the most
following remarks
:
astique," tome xii. , § 144, Art. St. Jerome. 3' This prelate flourished in the early part
of the fourth century.
*° This learned and illustrious saint's fes-
tival occurs at the 30th of September, on
which day he departed to bliss, in the year 420. See an admirable account of his life
Sanctorum Hibernise," xi. Martii. Vita S.
. ^ngussii, cap. xii. , p. 581.
^'' It is not at all probable, that Wille-
brord found the Martyrology of St. Jerome
in the territory of Frisia, or in other adjoin- ing districts, inhabited only by unbelievers. Nor has any similar copy been there dis- covered. On thecontrary, Colgan asserts, that many such copies were to be found in Ireland when he wrote. As here mentioned, in the Life of St. . ^ngus, the Martyrologies, ascribed both to Eusebius and to St. Jerome, were extant in his time, or before A. D. 787» when such testimony is supposed to have been recorded. These Martyrologies are considered to be the oldest compilations of the kind.
4S See Professor " Lec- Eugene O'Curry's
tures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient
Irish History," Lect. xvii. , pp. 362, 363, 364. YetinFatherMichaelO'Clery'spre- face to a poem of Marianus Gorman, he states, tha—t the Martyrology—otherwise the Festilogy of^ngusCeileDehadbeencom- posed from the Martyrology of Tamlacht.
^* So far as Mr. O'Curry ascertained, "no saint is found in it who died after that year. "
and writings in Rev. Alban Butler's
''
Lives
of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other Prin-
cipal Saints," vol. ix. , xxx. September.
*' The learned Bollandists, Henschenius and Papebrochius, were inclined to think that Eusebius was not only translated, but likewise augmented by St. Jerome. See their " Pro- logomina" to the Martyrology of Bede in "Acta Sanctorum," Martii, tomus ii. , pp. V. toviii.
*' The ascribed to St. Martyrology Jerome,
or rather to Eusebius and St. Jerome, as quoted by Aengus, is mentioned more than once by Bede, who lived many years before
'' Charlemagne. Thus, he cites Martyrolo-
gium Eusebii et Hieronymi vocabulis insig- nitum. " He states, that Eusebius is said to have been the author, and Jerome the trans- lator. See lib. ii. " in Marcum," cap. xxvi. , and "Retract, in Acta Apostolorum," cap. i.
INTRODUCTION.
while others are of opinion, that Eusebius39 drew up some sort of an earher Martyrology. It has even been asserted, this latter was the original author of that work ascribed to St. Jerome,^" who was only its translator into Latin. ^^ However, this may be, St. ^ngus appears to have used a certain Codex, and he styles it the Martyrology of Eusebius and Jerome. ^
The Martyrology of St. ^Engus and of St. Moelruan was well arranged, and very comprehensive in its plan. A list of foreign saints was first set down,foreveryday,andthenfollowedthenamesofourIrishsaints. Colgan considers this work the most copious of all the Martyrologies he had ever seen. *3 Yet, it would seem to have been extremely defective, in parts. The names of many saints, omitted in the Roman and other Martyrologies, are to be foundfirstintheMartyrologyattributedto^ngusandMaelruan. 44 However, a learned authority supposes, that ^ngus composed a still more ancient work, which deserves to bear his name, and that this is the oldest Irish Mar- tyrologyknown. 4s Itisthought,St. ^nguswrotethisworkaboutorbefore A. D.
ygS. -*^
We find a more detailed—yet still a very imperfect—description of what has
torain Januarii," of the great Bollandist before the O'Clerys had prepared the cele-
Collection. Tomus i. , Prefacio, cap. iv. brated one, now popularly known as " The
*'
sec. 4. Also, Tillemont's "HistoireEcclesi- Martyrology of Donegal. " See Acta
Wherefore, it would appear, that St. ^Engus *3 This opinion he must have entertained— composed a Martyrology, distinct from that at least so far as Irish saiijts are concerned— known as the Tallagh Martyrolog}'. How-
iNTRODUCTldN.
been called the HieronymianTallaghMartyrology, than that furnished either by Colgan or Bollandus. *^ It comes from the pen of Father John Baptist SoUer. *^ It seems almost certain that Bollandus and his fellow-labourers had
seen Colgan's copy. ^9 SoUer inspected and describes it, as containing ten vellum folia of large size, with nearly half a leaf, and covered with another leafofsimilarmaterialandappearance. ^" Inthecommencementofthis Codex, some modem hand has inscribed it, Martyrologium Tamlactense, et Opuscula S. Aengusst Keledei. ^^ In two different places it is noted as having belongedtotheconventofDonegal. Thoseleaveswerenotclearlytraced nor well arranged. ^^ Many names in this Codex were almost illegible. 53 Soller says it was defective from the iv. of the February Kalends to the iv. of the March Ides : so that the months of January and March were not per- fect. S4 The whole of February was missing. ss The April month was alone complete. May ran on to the 20th day,^^ or the xiii. of the Kalends of
June. June and July were wanting. August began from the iv. Nones,S7
but its remaining days were preserved. In September were missing the xii. , xi. , and x. days of the October Kalends. s^ October continued to the iii. of theKalendsofNovember. ThewholeofNovemberwasmissing. Decem- ber commenced only at the xv. ss of the Kalends of January. ^ Soller de-
ever, the peculiar Martyrology of St. ^Engus must be regarded as identical with his Fes-
tilogy.
*' Bollandus has published some extracts
^^
from Colgan's copy,
logia Hieronymiani Tamlactensis,'^ at the last days of the January month.
*^ See "Acta Sanctorum," Junii, tomus vii. , in his learned preface to a new edition
of ancient Martyrologies. In this, he treats regarding various copies of the Martyrology ascribed to St. Jerome.
*9 The Bollandists appear to bad frequent recourse to the Franciscans of Louvain for the names and festivals of saints mentioned in their copy of the Martyrology of Tallagh. See "Acta Sanctorum Januarii," tomus ii. , xxiv. Januarii. Praetermissi et in alios dies rejecti, p. 561.
5° Dr. Todd, when at Rome, in 1S61 and 1862, first ascertained beyond question, that
these
yi^/Zfl
of Leihster, a manuscript written in the twelfth century, and now preserved in the
Library of Trinity College, Dublin.
S' On an average, there are from six to seven columns across each page. The folia
are loosely placed within a parchment cover.
Saints,
generally quoted
as " Tamlach- Martyrologium
tense,"or"TheMartyrologyofTallagh. "'^ Sometimes,fromthecompilers'
names, it is designated, "The Martyrology of ^ngus, the son of Ua-Oblein,
andofMoelruain. "'9 Veryfewcopiesofthisworkhavecomedowntoour
time, in manuscript ; and these hitherto discovered are found to be imper-
fect, while faultily transcribed or interpolated by scribes, who assume to have copied from the original work.
rently after its dissolution, the place passed
into the hands of the Archbishop of Dublin,
and here, in 1324, Alexander de Bicknor
built a fine mediaeval castle or palace for his
country residence. Here, too, several of his Ireland," book i. , chap. v. Also, Bishop successors dwelt. In 1 771, Gabriel Beran- Nicholson's "Irish Historical Library," ger made a drawing of it, which is extant. chap. iv.
Until 1803, the Protestant Archbishops of '7 See the "Life and Works of St. . ^n- Dublin resided in this palace. In 181 8, W. gussius Hagiographus or St. ^ngus the
Monck Mason had a beautiful copperplate engraving, by S. Lacey, prepared by C. V.
Fielding from a sketch by P. Byrne, and this view he dedicated to His Grace Euseby,
Lord Archbishop of Dublin, &c. , &c. This has been reproduced in the new and en-
Culdee," by the author. Dublin, 1868, 8vo. See, also, the Life of this saint, which occurs at the nth of March, the date for his festi- val.
'* John Boland, who had possibly seen an old copy belonging to John Colgan and the Franciscans, at Louvain, confesses, that he was unable to decide what degree of autho-
When
larged edition of Archdall's
"
Monasticon
Hibemicum," edited, with extensive notes,
by the Right Rev. Patrick F. Moran, D. D. , rity should be attached to it.
Lord Bishop of Ossory, and other distin- quoting it, for his purpose at the latter days guished Antiquarians. In vol. i. , at p. 201, of January, he calls it " Hibemicum Mar- there is an elegant view of the Ancient Ar- tyrologium. " See "Acta Sanctorum," ,
chiepiscopal Palace, Tallaght, in the County of Dublin. In 1825, this Palace was taken down, with the exception of its ancient
Januarii, tomus i. Prsfatio Generalis ad Vitas Sanctorum, cap. iv. , sec. 4.
'9 The title prefixed to this Martyrology is
now with couched in these terms " incorporated :
square belfry tower,
the new Dominican Convent, as shown in
Incipit Martyro- logium i^ngussii, filii Hua-oblenii et Mel- ruanii. " But in the copy, preserved at St. Isidore's convent, Rome, Dr. Todd says, at ful storm, "St. Maelruan's tree," which the beginning, the following title is in ru- bric : "Incipit martira oenghusa mc oiblean
the background of our Frontispiece. On the 6th of January, 1839, during a night of fear-
had for centuries grown upright—yet parted
near the roots—from two trunks large
et maolruain ie e. \i.
" Here
hie. ]"
the Martyrology of Oengus Mac Oiblean
tions, and several of their branches were and Maolruain. " This, however, can only firmly bedded in the earth. Each autumn, mean, that the work had been compiled this fine tree is loaded with a vast number from the collections of Aengus and Mael- of walnuts. The people believe it had ruain, as its basis, for it exhibits internal
; these were blown down in opposite direc-
begins
been planted originally by St. Maelruan, and that it has continued to grow there since his time.
'*See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. "Writers of
xiv INTRODUCTION.
Oi that celebrated Martyrology, attributed to the authorship of St. Maelruan, as also to his renowned disciple St. ^ngus, the Culdee, Colgan appears to have possessed two defective copies. The names of saints are simply set down in this
work, which, for stated reasons, he preferred calling the Martyrology of Tallagh, or Tamlacht. In the first place, it had been composed by joint labour, on^^the
part of -^ngus and Maelruan, at Tallagh ; secondly, it could —not be cited as theworkofbothsaints,withouttediousnessandconfusion themoreso,
because he had been obliged frequently to quote another Martyrology, the sole production of ^ngus ; and thirdly, h&cdiwse. it is reasonably conjectured, that ancient writers called it the Martyrology of Tamlacht. =^° This latter
work, therefore, was supposed to differ in no respect from the Martyrology of . ^ngus and Maelruan, which had been composed at Tallagh. There was no other Martyrology known to be extant in Colgan's time, and that could better deserve such a title, or which, in fact, was distinguished by such an
that work " of and entitled, Martyrology yEngus
appellation. Fourthly,
Maelruan," contains the names of its reputed authors'^ and of some other
saints, who were their contemporaries, but who departed this life after their time. Nordoesitfollow,becauseBlathmac,whohadbeenmartyredforthe faith at lona, a. d. 823,=^ and Feidhlimidh Mac Crimhthainn, King of Mun- ster, who died on the i8th of August,=3 a. d. 845, have been entered in it, that their names had not been introduced for copies, transcribed after the death of . ^ngus. Among other insertions, we find recorded therein the name, St. Corpre,BishopofClonmacnoise,whodieda. d. 899; butwedonotfind the name of St. Cormac Mac Cuileannan, king and bishop, who departed this life, in the earlier part of the tenth century, nor, in fact, of any saint, who died after a. d. 900. ^4 Hence, it is thought, that certain subsequent additions were made to the joint work of ^ngus and Maelruan, by some monk, belonging to the monastery of Tallagh, or to some other place, and who lived towards the close of the ninth, or who died in the beginning of the tenth century. ^^s
evidence of comprising more recent entries of saints living long after their death. See
"
March nth, and July 7th.
*^
According to Professor O'Curry, on the 19th of July. This appears, however, to be Donegal. " Introduction, p. xv. It shows, a mistake for the 24th of that month. See
Drs. Todd's and Reeves'
Martyrology of
however, that both saints must have been joint labourers at the work, previous to the
death of Maelruan, in the year 792. Some additions were undoubtedly made in the
the life of this holy martyr at the 19th of January. Art. i. , and n. 32.
*3 His festival, however, is placed on the Calendar at the 28th of August,
had previously been written. See "Acta xii. , p. 581. In Harris' Ware, a similar
centuries.
*°Thus, Marianus Gorman, who lived
^* From circumstances alluded already
succeeding
to, Eugene O'Curry seems to doubt if Aengus had anything to do with its authorship. See "Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History," Lect. xvii. , p, 362. '^ See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- from the Martyrology of Tamlacht, which niae," xi. Martii. Vita S. iEngussii, cap.
more than five hundred years before Col- gan's time, in the preface to his Martyrology,
rightly remarks in Colgan's opinion, that St. . (Engus composed his metrical Festilogy,
Sanctorum Hibernige," xi. Martii. Vita S.
^ngussii, cap. xiii. p. 581.
" At the date of their respective festivals,
opinion has been adopted. See vol. iii.
" 52.
Writers of Ireland," book i. , chap, v. , p.
tmkonucTioN: itv
The Martyrology of Tallagh is generally believed to be the oldest con- taining our Irish saints' festivals known to be extant ; and with the days, it oftenrecordstheirimmediatefathersandtheirparticularchurches. ^^ Still criticism must remain greatly at fault, in reference to its real author or authors ; especially, as we are not likely ever to recover the original copy, which most probably has been destroyed. A version of the Martyrology of Tallagh has been published by the late Rev. Professor Matthew Kelly, D. D. , ofMaynoothCollege. ^? Intheyear1847,^^procured^^acopy,partiallyde- fective,andtranscribedfromtheBurgimdianLibraryone,atBrussels. ^9 This version he published in 1857, shortly before his lamented death. 3° Its defects have been supplied, in parts, from other Irish Martyrologies. Corrections were carefully made by Professor O'Curry from his Transcript for Rev. Dr. Todd. 3' WhenthisdistinguishedscholarvisitedRomein1862,hecollated
the Irish portion of Dr. Kell/s work with the original manuscript. Nume- rous errors and omissions were thus corrected. s^ However, the edition
published by Rev. Dr. Kelly still contains valuable historic notes and addi- tions. 33 It is to be regretted, that the learned editor had not been able to obtain a more complete—yet still deficient—copy for publication, which Colgan had once procured. 34 Indeed, a number of different copies, had they been available, must have greatly enhanced the value and accuracy of such an interesting work.
Long before the composition of this valuable national Calendar of holy per- sons by St. . ^ngus and St. Maelruan, an older Martyrology of Saints had been
^*
It has been described by Professor Tamlactense et Genealogias SS"TM et plura O'Curry, in his "Lectures on the Manu- alia opuscula. " We may add that the bind- script Materials of Ancient Irish History," ing of this valuable volume is of vellum, Lect. xvii. , pp. 362, 363. Also, by Rev. with a piece of calf-skin, rudely stitched
James Henthom Todd, in his Introduction upon its back. See Mr. Bindon's Paper, ""
to the Martyrology of Donegal. "
^7 The editor used two mutilated copies of this work. See Rev. Dr. Kelly's "Disser- tations chiefly on Irish Church History. "
Edited by Rev. Daniel Mac Carthy, D. D. , p. 214.
^^
the kindness of Rev. Father Tinbroeck, S. J.
*9 As the original is in the Irish character,
with some peculiar Irish contractions, and many strange Irish names, certain inaccu- racies were unavoidable when making the first transcript.
3° This MS. occupies about twenty-seven pages, and it has various testimonials ap-
pended. It is found among the MSS. , as vol. xvii. , No. 5104. Upon the outside of this volume will be found the following note, in a hand apparently as old as that of the text or testimonials: " Continens Mar-
tyrologia CEngussei, Mariani Gormani et
read May 24th, 1847. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. iii. , pp. 489, 490.
Through
32 See "The Martyrology of Donegal,"
edited Drs. Todd and Reeves. Intro- by
duction, n. 3, p. xvi.
33 in 1849, the Rev. Dr. Todd likewise
procured from the Belgian Government the
loan of a MS. containing this, as well as
O'Gorman's and iEngus' Martyrologies,
all in Father Michael O'Clery's handwriting. Professor O'Curry made accurate transcripts
from it, for Dr. Todd's private library, See "Lectures on the Manuscript Materials
of Ancient Irish History," Lect xvii. , pp.
362, 363.
34 The edition of the Martyrology of Tal-
laght, published by the Rev. Dr.
Kelly, must have been prepared from a copy, diffc-
^i See Rev. Dr. Kelly's Irish Saints," Preface, p. iii.
**
Calendar of
XVI Wtroduction.
inuseamongecclesiastics. 35 Thisseemstohavebeenoriginallycompiledat,
or even before, the time of St. Jerome. 3^ Although not wholly written by
" The
learned men, it is considered to be the oldest work of its kind extant ;3S
ing from that older one,described by Colgan. has his name inscribed, and whose very Dr. Kelly's edition only contains the names handwriting can be traced in part, with
of Irish, and omits the list of foreign saints. 35 Father Heribert Roswede, a man deeply versed in ecclesiastical antiquities, had re- ceived frem the Canhusians at Treves, or Triers, in Germany, a certain very ancient codex, belonging to St. Willebrord's Monas- tery at Eptemac, in Triers diocese, duchy of Luxemburg. It contained an exceedingly
him, yet
it bears for
title,
Martyrology
of St.
Jerome. '"^? By many
old and most
included names of many saints for each day,
been thus designated, owing to the prefixed
"
title:
lebrordi continet Martyrologium Hiero- nymi. " Whether this had been the Mar- tyrology ascribed to St. Jerome, or to St. Eusebius, or to St. Willebrord, in most particulars, Colgan says, it agreed with the his Martyrology of St. . <^ngus, and with the Maryrology of Tallagh. Only those places where the Martyrs suffered were more accu- rately noted, and it had the advantage of being more copious. Tlie Martyrology of Tallagh has also added at each day certain
Irish saints, and frequentlysome other saints, wantingintheEptemaccopy. Tworeasons incline Colgan to believe that St. Willebrord
—which is known
as"C—odexS. Willebrordi"or"Epterna- beeninterpolatedbysomeone,wholived
not found in the "
complete Martyrology.
This
Roma- num," or in any other Martyrology hitherto edited. He thought this was the Martyr- ology of St. Jerome, and that it should have
lib. and 12. For the v. , cap. lo, II,
Martyrologium
rum,"
trath of these statements, Colgan cites other
Christe fave votis. Codex S. Wil-
authorities, in the Life of St. Suithbert, at the first day of March.
3* Launoy says that the Martyrology called of St. Jerovie cannot be proved to have been written by that very learned saint, on any authority prior to the reign of Charle- magne.
37 It must be remarked, that D'Achery, in
"
Spicilegium, sive Collectio Veterum aliquot Scriptomm," has published "Mar- tyrologium vetustissimum Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri nomine insignitum," tomus iv. This is even imperfect, since he appends the
brought that Martyrology
were written has by St. Jerome, it
censi" withhim,whenheleftIrelandonhis way to Eptemac. First, two copies had been
preserved in Colgan's time, although dif- feringsomewhatincertainpassages. Those belongedtoIreland. Oneofthemhadbeen transmitted to Louvain. Itwaswrittenon old vellum, but it was not found in a perfect state. Each day, that other copy had been expect- ed, and from which excerpts of Irish saints had been already obtained. No other copy of this work was known to be extant in any of the European libraries, that only excepted which belonged to the collection of Eptemac MSS. Secondly, one of these copies seems to have its
authenticity proved correlativelywith the other. For St. Willebrord, whose Codex
part,
since his time, as the names of many among the more recent saints are contained in it. . See the remarks of Henry Valois in his Ap- pendix to the edition of ' ' Eusebius's Eccle- siastical History,'" on this subject. St. Je- rome's Martyrology had been used by Pope St. Gregory the Great, and it existed many years earlier. Since those times, some names have been added to it, such as that of Gre- gory himself. These D'Achery has marked in Italics. Among such reputed additions, is the name of St. Patrick. See Dr. Lani- gan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xx. , § x. , n. 102, pp. 249,
250.
3^ See on this subject the " Acta Sane*
every appearance of certain proof, did not
come from Anglia—as some writers say—
but he came from Hibemia immediately to
Friesland or Frisia, and thence to Eptemac.
Willebrord had previously lived in Ireland,
from the twentieth to the thirty-third year of
his age, engaged in scholastic studies and in
practices of piety, as Alovinus Flaccus states
in his " and as Venerable Bede has it Life,"
in his " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglo-
*
" Cetera legi non potu- erant in MS utpote a tineis corrosa ; silicet ab hac die ad viii. Kal. Jan. a quo incipit hocce Martyrologium. " It must be con- fessed, if this Martyrology, for the most
following remarks
:
astique," tome xii. , § 144, Art. St. Jerome. 3' This prelate flourished in the early part
of the fourth century.
*° This learned and illustrious saint's fes-
tival occurs at the 30th of September, on
which day he departed to bliss, in the year 420. See an admirable account of his life
Sanctorum Hibernise," xi. Martii. Vita S.
. ^ngussii, cap. xii. , p. 581.
^'' It is not at all probable, that Wille-
brord found the Martyrology of St. Jerome
in the territory of Frisia, or in other adjoin- ing districts, inhabited only by unbelievers. Nor has any similar copy been there dis- covered. On thecontrary, Colgan asserts, that many such copies were to be found in Ireland when he wrote. As here mentioned, in the Life of St. . ^ngus, the Martyrologies, ascribed both to Eusebius and to St. Jerome, were extant in his time, or before A. D. 787» when such testimony is supposed to have been recorded. These Martyrologies are considered to be the oldest compilations of the kind.
4S See Professor " Lec- Eugene O'Curry's
tures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient
Irish History," Lect. xvii. , pp. 362, 363, 364. YetinFatherMichaelO'Clery'spre- face to a poem of Marianus Gorman, he states, tha—t the Martyrology—otherwise the Festilogy of^ngusCeileDehadbeencom- posed from the Martyrology of Tamlacht.
^* So far as Mr. O'Curry ascertained, "no saint is found in it who died after that year. "
and writings in Rev. Alban Butler's
''
Lives
of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other Prin-
cipal Saints," vol. ix. , xxx. September.
*' The learned Bollandists, Henschenius and Papebrochius, were inclined to think that Eusebius was not only translated, but likewise augmented by St. Jerome. See their " Pro- logomina" to the Martyrology of Bede in "Acta Sanctorum," Martii, tomus ii. , pp. V. toviii.
*' The ascribed to St. Martyrology Jerome,
or rather to Eusebius and St. Jerome, as quoted by Aengus, is mentioned more than once by Bede, who lived many years before
'' Charlemagne. Thus, he cites Martyrolo-
gium Eusebii et Hieronymi vocabulis insig- nitum. " He states, that Eusebius is said to have been the author, and Jerome the trans- lator. See lib. ii. " in Marcum," cap. xxvi. , and "Retract, in Acta Apostolorum," cap. i.
INTRODUCTION.
while others are of opinion, that Eusebius39 drew up some sort of an earher Martyrology. It has even been asserted, this latter was the original author of that work ascribed to St. Jerome,^" who was only its translator into Latin. ^^ However, this may be, St. ^ngus appears to have used a certain Codex, and he styles it the Martyrology of Eusebius and Jerome. ^
The Martyrology of St. ^Engus and of St. Moelruan was well arranged, and very comprehensive in its plan. A list of foreign saints was first set down,foreveryday,andthenfollowedthenamesofourIrishsaints. Colgan considers this work the most copious of all the Martyrologies he had ever seen. *3 Yet, it would seem to have been extremely defective, in parts. The names of many saints, omitted in the Roman and other Martyrologies, are to be foundfirstintheMartyrologyattributedto^ngusandMaelruan. 44 However, a learned authority supposes, that ^ngus composed a still more ancient work, which deserves to bear his name, and that this is the oldest Irish Mar- tyrologyknown. 4s Itisthought,St. ^nguswrotethisworkaboutorbefore A. D.
ygS. -*^
We find a more detailed—yet still a very imperfect—description of what has
torain Januarii," of the great Bollandist before the O'Clerys had prepared the cele-
Collection. Tomus i. , Prefacio, cap. iv. brated one, now popularly known as " The
*'
sec. 4. Also, Tillemont's "HistoireEcclesi- Martyrology of Donegal. " See Acta
Wherefore, it would appear, that St. ^Engus *3 This opinion he must have entertained— composed a Martyrology, distinct from that at least so far as Irish saiijts are concerned— known as the Tallagh Martyrolog}'. How-
iNTRODUCTldN.
been called the HieronymianTallaghMartyrology, than that furnished either by Colgan or Bollandus. *^ It comes from the pen of Father John Baptist SoUer. *^ It seems almost certain that Bollandus and his fellow-labourers had
seen Colgan's copy. ^9 SoUer inspected and describes it, as containing ten vellum folia of large size, with nearly half a leaf, and covered with another leafofsimilarmaterialandappearance. ^" Inthecommencementofthis Codex, some modem hand has inscribed it, Martyrologium Tamlactense, et Opuscula S. Aengusst Keledei. ^^ In two different places it is noted as having belongedtotheconventofDonegal. Thoseleaveswerenotclearlytraced nor well arranged. ^^ Many names in this Codex were almost illegible. 53 Soller says it was defective from the iv. of the February Kalends to the iv. of the March Ides : so that the months of January and March were not per- fect. S4 The whole of February was missing. ss The April month was alone complete. May ran on to the 20th day,^^ or the xiii. of the Kalends of
June. June and July were wanting. August began from the iv. Nones,S7
but its remaining days were preserved. In September were missing the xii. , xi. , and x. days of the October Kalends. s^ October continued to the iii. of theKalendsofNovember. ThewholeofNovemberwasmissing. Decem- ber commenced only at the xv. ss of the Kalends of January. ^ Soller de-
ever, the peculiar Martyrology of St. ^Engus must be regarded as identical with his Fes-
tilogy.
*' Bollandus has published some extracts
^^
from Colgan's copy,
logia Hieronymiani Tamlactensis,'^ at the last days of the January month.
*^ See "Acta Sanctorum," Junii, tomus vii. , in his learned preface to a new edition
of ancient Martyrologies. In this, he treats regarding various copies of the Martyrology ascribed to St. Jerome.
*9 The Bollandists appear to bad frequent recourse to the Franciscans of Louvain for the names and festivals of saints mentioned in their copy of the Martyrology of Tallagh. See "Acta Sanctorum Januarii," tomus ii. , xxiv. Januarii. Praetermissi et in alios dies rejecti, p. 561.
5° Dr. Todd, when at Rome, in 1S61 and 1862, first ascertained beyond question, that
these
yi^/Zfl
of Leihster, a manuscript written in the twelfth century, and now preserved in the
Library of Trinity College, Dublin.
S' On an average, there are from six to seven columns across each page. The folia
are loosely placed within a parchment cover.
